I was looking for info about Blizzard North (the division of blizzard responsible for creating Diablo and Diablo II) and I found out that in 2005 there was already a Diablo III proyect. I found this video on youtube with screenshots:

[link]

Anyways, I remember playing Diablo I when it was first lunched, and I loved it. It was melancholic, gothic and scary, It was a great game that made you feel inmersed in to  the dark world of Sanctuary.

Now Diablo II was way less gothic, less scary and not melancholic at all. It was a great action rpg game but it lack the feeling of it's predecessor.

I think the original Diablo III that was discarded was more like the first one. And the new one has more the feeling of World of Warcraft. Even though it is a great game, I cant help but think about how the original Diablo III would have been...